Come Home Awards & Sen. Peters Introducing Legislation

Posted on August 22, 2018

The Community Foundation has selected three more recipients for the Come Home program and Senator Gary Peters will soon introduce legislation to support these types of talent attraction and retention programs across the country.

The latest award recipients are Brad McDougal and his fiancé, Lindsay Payton, along with Shane Gamrat. Brad and Lindsay both have strong family ties to the Port Huron area and are coming home from Kalamazoo, where they attended college.

Shane Gamrat received his degree in Civil Engineering from Lawrence Technological University and works at BMJ Engineers in Port Huron.

Phil Porte, president of BMJ Engineers said, “Shane is an outstanding employee and an exceptional young man. We are very lucky to have been able to add him to our team at BMJ and our Community Foundation’s Come Home Program will help us keep him here.”

U.S. Senator Gary Peters is a strong supporter and advocate for the work of community foundations, and in particular, the innovative approach to support economic growth in rural communities which was created and launched by the Community Foundation of St. Clair County in early 2016.

“I’m proud of the work our Community Foundation staff has done regarding talent retention and attraction. They’ve been working diligently to advance the national conversation on these issues,” said Community Foundation Board Chair, Mike Cansfield.

Following the program’s launch in St. Clair County, Michigan, the Council on Foundations (COF) has been working on a legislative fix for this kind of charitable incentive. In July the “Workforce Development Through Post-Graduation Scholarships Act (H.R. 6486) was introduced in the House by Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Terri Sewell (D-AL) on July 24, 2018.

Senator Peters will be in Port Huron on August 24th to meet with regional stakeholders and discuss his proposed legislation.